Are they fit to govern when they are so stupid?

Four days back Speaker of the House of Representatives in the US Nancy Pelosi wrote to President Donald Trump to postpone his State of the Union address, give it in writing to the Congress or deliver it from the White House because his security cannot be guaranteed in view of the partial government shutdown. The speech is currently scheduled for 29 January. "Both the US Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security have not been funded for 26 days now -- with critical departments hamstrung by furloughs," she wrote. "The Department of Homeland Security are fully prepared to support and secure the State of the Union," tweeted Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. The State of the Union, starting in 1913, is delivered by the president in front of joint houses of the Congress outlining the work undertaken by his government and what he hopes to achieve in the coming year. It gets full coverage by news media and is seen on television all over the world. In his first State of the Union address Trump received 75 standing ovations, mainly from Republicans, while Democrats sat stony-faced. Even when Trump said something sensible, such as reducing cost of prescription drugs, Democrats sat silent, not willing to be seen to be giving him any support in case it added to his popularity. The address is followed by hours of analysis by media pundits and politicians, praising or criticizing, depending on their personal beliefs. A written speech or one delivered from the Oval Office will certainly not have that kind of exposure or appeal to the base. The address highlights how disunited the Congress is and perhaps it is time to end it, wrote Ron Elving. While Trump's job approval rating is over 40, the job approval rating of the Congress was 22 on 16 January and a dismal 9 on 2nd January. Between December 2017 and December 2018 the approval rating of the Congress was 15-21% while the disapproval rating was 73-81%. When you are already naked, having a haircut makes no difference. In response to Pelosi's canceling of his address, Trump canceled Pelosi's planned trip Afghanistan by military aircraft. In view of the shutdown Trump canceled the US delegation's, as well as his own, trip to Davos in Switzerland to attend the annual jamboree at the World Economic Forum. The confrontation is because the Democrats refuse to fund a border wall between the US and Mexico to stop illegal immigrants from entering. The wall is expected to cost $5.7 billion out of the total federal budget of over $4 trillion, which is around 0.001%. Hard to imagine that politicians in the richest country in the world are engaged in such a stupid, puerile fight. Almost makes our lot look rational.